A stay on the island of Madeira is often a life altering experience. The island’s natural beauty is unequalled, and people often marvel to see such diversity in landscapes on such a small island. The vegetation is lush, and in every season there are always flowers to be found, many of them very exotic. Most who travel to the island fall under its spell and will want to bring a palpable piece of Madeira home when their stay comes to the end.
Madeiran commerce has understood this and there are a lot of items to be found in the typical tourist shops or stalls that – superficially – look very Madeiran. Pity that most of them have been invented for tourists and were – you guessed it – made in China. The result is that we can see many tourists wearing a ridiculous so-called traditional Madeiran hat or carrying a made-in-China poor quality cork handbag. Of preference, they appear with these items in selfies made while seated in one of the toboggans in Monte, Funchal. That´s what you get when the government allows tourism to grow into mass tourism in some places.
If you don’t like these mass-produced fake souvenirs, you have very little possibilities of finding something more of your liking, or something more original. There is a nice little shop in Ponta do Sol at the foot of the church, next to the old telephone booth that now serve as a free library. It is called Cantinho de Artes e Ofícios da Ponta do Sol. We have found – and bought – nice items there, made by one of the participating local artisans. Unfortunately, they have also fallen – at least in part – for the easy Chinese buy-and-sell souvenirs, taking away the purity the little shop once had. Still, if you happen to be in Ponta do Sol, go and take a look because you may find nice and original items there. They have no website, only a Facebook page here.
When we became aware of a new ‘shop’ called Alma Artista, it was a breath of fresh air. Though you can buy art and items there, it is more like an art gallery than a shop. Alma Artista is a collective of artists and artisans. They all contribute to the costs of maintaining a little venue, and in return, they can exhibit their art and items there. You will only find originals here, paintings, items, sculptures, jewelry and even clothing. Nothing has been bought elsewhere, everything is an original creation by local people, Madeirans or immigrants. If you are looking for something Madeira-related to bring home, you will find plenty of interesting, beautiful or cute items or pieces of art, some small enough to bring home in your suitcase, others too large for that, but Alma Artista offers a shipping service that takes care of the transport.
If you are staying on the island for a longer term or maybe permanently, you may be interested in another idea Alma Artista has introduced: workshops of different kinds, all art or artisan related.
If you send them a request email, you will be put on their mailing list, and you will be informed of workshops coming up, and of new artists being introduced over a drink and with some music.
Alma Artista is celebrating their second anniversary on the 25th of this month and is becoming a well-established little gallery at the far end of the Marina of Calheta, shop 11C, next to the harbour master’s office.
